HOYTES Labour Day Classic tips off on Thursday

By Buster Laing

Special to The FN

The HOYTES Labour day classic is set for May 31 to June 2 at the St.Georges Gymnasium with teams expected in from Bimini, Nassau, Abaco along with the host island Grand Bahama, according to HOYTES Director Gladstone "Moon" Mcphee.

The various age groups will be 8-9, 11-12,13-14 and 15-17.

Last year's recap:

Travis Rolle scored 14 points to lead No Bull past HOYTES 37-24 to win the 16-17 age category championship game of the HOYTES Labor Day Basketball Invitational on Saturday night at the St. Georges gymnasium.

"We worked immensely on our defensive drills; we know that defense will always be more productive than offense in a game.

"They have a lot of good scorers and a great player in Philip Jones, but I think when we turned up our defense, they had a limited bench and we just wore them down in the second half.

"They didn't have enough in the tank to finish and we had enough in the rotation to keep the defensive pressure on. I am really proud of these guys," said Geno Bullard, head coach of the No Bull team out of Nassau, which is a private club that was established in 2003, whose primary focus is to keep the young men active and in a positive environment.

The name is derived from the coaches last name Bullard.

HOYTES led 21-20 after Phil Jones connected on a three- pointer with 7:21 left on the clock.

But for the next six minutes the team from Nassau took no more bull from HOYTES as they went on to outscore HOYTES 16-1, playing a smothering defense and executing precision passing and cutting on offense.

"We got pretty much tired, they had more energy than my guys, but we gave it a fight.

"We had only six players on the bench; the best team came out with the win, what more can I say. I am pretty satisfied with how our team played," said Denard Kelly, coach of HOYTES.

Power forward Christopher Stuart's put back on a rebound play made the score 22-21 with 6:41 left.

Shaquille Fernander got the offense rolling on a deep three-pointer to make the score 24-21.

Fernander added five points during the run. Chris Stuart muscled himself inside for another six points and Fernander ended the run, just how he started on a layup to make the score 37-22 with 1:25 left.

Nathan Bain of Hoytes ended the drought on a breakaway dunk with six seconds left in the game to make the final score 37-24.

Travis Rolle finished with 14 points. Swingman Mariano Lundy scored 10 points and was named Most Outstanding Player. Stuart added 10 points.

Center Jones lead HOYTES with 10 points, but was held to one point in the second half after scoring nine first half points.

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